## Why

Why would learners need to take notes? With notes, many learners use them to reinforce what they read or as an organizational strategy. In paper textbooks, we use highlighters to mark important information (if we own the textbook). However, it is hard to highlight information in electronic materials. This brings us to the highlighter tool found in docReader. The note highlighting is not the highlighting while reading but an actual highlighter.

## Who

ALL learners will benefit from the highlighters. Learners need to find and capture important information. As a teacher, you can use the highlighter to help your learners find important information in a document.

- K-12 use cases include diagramming sentences, highlighting nouns in one color and verbs in another, comparing/contrasting information, categorization, etc.
- Higher Education use cases include comparisons, cause/effect/solution, acid/base identification, character analysis, monitoring comprehension, exam prep, etc.

### Scenario:

The instructor has given a three-page article to read. In the last five minutes of class, start playing the article; learners can finish at home.

- Mark up your article with the important information and then hide the highlights. If you will not be using the same computer the next day, collect and download the highlights and upload them into Brightspace (but keep them hidden from learners).
- The next day, begin the discussion by asking the learners what they thought was important.
- After validating their points, show them yours. Point out the differences and similarities.
  - Note: To hide highlights on a page, click on the hide highlights tool, which has an icon of an eye with a slash through it. To show highlights, click on the show highlights tool, which has an eye as the icon.)
- Ask questions about why they thought something was important. This will show you how the highlighter can be used to improve study skills and stimulate discussion. Remember, if you have collected and uploaded the highlights into Brightspace, you will want to make them visible to the learners after the lesson.

## When

Consider introducing these tools early on in a course. An early introduction of the tools helps teach learners to identify important points as coursework is being delivered. Learners who begin working on content are more adept at finding critical information. Learners download the files and save them with a name that they find appropriate for the material collected.

## How

Highlighting and collecting highlights are available ONLY in docReader.

- Open docReader according to your view.
  - Classic View - Click on the dropdown menu to the right of the file name and then "Open with docReader,"
  - New Content Experience View- Click on the speaker and find the highlighter under the hamburger on the right.
  - New Learner Experience View - Click on "Open DocReader."
  - Note: If you are unsure which view you are using, please look on the definitions page.
- How do I find the highlighter in the Classic and the student view of New View1B?
  - Open a document in docReader.
  - Click on the caret, .
  - Click on the highlighter, , on the lower toolbar.
- How do I find the highlighter in the New View 1A and the instructor view of New View 1B?
  - Click on the hamburger, .
  - Click on the highlighter, .
- You will see the highlighter palette of tools, .
- Click on a color and then highlight the text.
- OR click on the pointer, , highlight the material, and then select your color.
- If you are colorblind, you will want to use borders. Click on the hamburger on the right-hand side of the highlighter palette of tools, , you will see a dropdown menu. Click on Show Highlight Borders.
- To make a change, click on the highlighted material and select delete highlight or change the highlight color from the pop-up menu.
- When you click on the hamburger on the right-hand side of the highlighter palette of tools, , you will see a dropdown menu. Click on Collect and Download to download your highlights.

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Overall, the highlighter can be used in many ways. Remember that highlights are held in the cookies and cache of the device's browser. So, if you change browsers or devices, you will not see your highlights.

## Video

Proceed to the Lesson Plan #3

Proceed to the Lesson 3 Quiz